Coventry City will face Arsenal in their first Premier League match in 25 years on August 21, 2026. Arsenal, the reigning champions, will host the newly promoted team in the season opener.
Key points
Coventry City plays Arsenal in Premier League opener
Match scheduled for August 21, 2026
Coventry returns to top flight after 25 years
Arsenal are the reigning champions
Other matches include Hull vs Manchester United and Ipswich vs Sunderland
Coventry CityArsenalManchester UnitedHull City
Newly promoted Coventry City will travel to championsArsenalin the first match of the 2026-27 Premier League season.
The season's curtain raiser on Friday, 21 August sees the Sky Blues play their first top-flight match in 25 years against the Gunners, who were led to their first Premier League title since 2004 by Mikel Arteta.
Hull City, who went up via the play-offs, host Manchester United on Saturday, 22 August while fellow promoted side Ipswich are at home to Sunderland on the same day.
During the Christmas and New Year period, no two rounds of matches will take place within 60 hours of each other in keeping with commitments made to clubs to address congested schedules.
Rather than the traditional three two-week international breaks during the opening months of the season, there will now be two.
September and October's international breaks will merge into a new three-week break beginning after the weekend of September 19/20, while November's two-week international break will remain.
Key things to look out for this season
There will be a change in the way Premier League referees judge hair-pulling next season after three players were sent off for the offence in 2025-26.
All three red cards for hair-pulling came through a video assistant referee review, but from next season, not every time a player is seen to pull an opponent's hair will they be dismissed.
Instead, greater emphasis will be placed on both the level of force and the intention.
Referees will be told to look for a "clear and deliberate action" which has "excessive force and/or brutality".
The change is intended to give more latitude to players who may accidentally hold on to an opponent's hair.
In addition, officials will be asked to place a greater emphasis on grappling and holding inside the area after it became commonplace on corners and set-pieces.
Referees will be told to pay much more attention to "holding actions that have clear material impact".
This includes players who are "clearly only focused on opponents and making a holding action".
A solution to stop goalkeeper "tactical timeouts" is also set to be introduced.
The tactic is used by managers to get new instructions to their players or to impact the momentum of the opposition.
The goalkeeper sits on the turf and signals for the physio and the other players rush to the technical area for a team talk.
The Premier League is discussing a solution before the new season while a new law to tackle general time-wasting by goalkeepers will be introduced.
If keepers delay a restart on a goal-kick, a referee can start a five-second countdown. If time runs out, the opposition will be given a corner.
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